1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to generating and displaying computer images which depict reflected light, and more particularly to a method for simulating the appearance of an anisotropic surface as it reflects light towards a viewer.
2. Related Art
The interaction of light with surfaces has proven to be one of the most complicated and fundamental problems in computer graphics. Considerable research has addressed simulation of light reflected from isotropic surfaces. Models for computer graphic simulation of anisotropic reflection (i.e., reflection of light from rough surfaces) have also been proposed, but are based on either non-physical reflection functions obtained using numerical simulations, or are estimated from experimental data. None of the existing anisotropic models are based on the known physical properties of light. Yet, a physics based approach would be the most appropriate for simulating the natural reflection of light from an anisotropic surface. Such an approach would allow simulation of the image that a viewer would see of light reflected from such a surface. Moreover, in the case of anisotropic surfaces having periodic profiles, the reflection of light from such surfaces has never been modeled in computer graphics. Hence there is a need for a physics-based method by which light, reflected from an anisotropic surface, can be simulated in a computer graphics environment.